Wildwood's rides from the past

Friday

OK, they might not be. The ones of today are pretty great, but because I was a kid and this is my story, I'm going to go with the old school rides as the best ever.

And since I already gave my best picks of the current rides, today I turn my attention to rides of yesteryear.

But before I go on, I'd like to give a shout out on here. Chances are, if you're a Wildwood nut, you'll know of this, but if not, check out www.wildwood365.net. It's a great site for people who went to Wildwood as a kid and it's even better if you still go down the shore. They do a great job keeping you up to date of the happenings at the happiest place on earth.

Back to the rides! Here's my top 10 list.

10. Bear Country Jubilee: I don't remember much about this ride, but it featured singing bears and who doesn't love singing bears? If I remember correctly, this ride was on Morey's Pier back in the day and back then, we were Hunt's Pier people, so I'd only go on this on special occasions. If I remember correctly, this and Cinema 180 were my favorite rides on the other piers. Both were spectacular.

9. Rampagin Rapids: This ride wasn't as great as I expected to be, but it was still pretty darn good. They built it at the back of the pier and it was impossible not to get soaked when you went on it. That was the only good part about it, I don't remember much else. But on a hot, summer day, that's good enough.

8. The Train: I'm sure this had a much cooler name, but we always called it the choo choo train. What do you want from me, I was 5! But it was at the very front of the pier and it had a lot of cool things. The first half of the ride was outdoors and you got to watch the roller coaster above you, then on the second half of the ride, you saw cool skeletons. It just doesn't get any better than that!

7. Keystone Kops: Again, I'm not sure what made this ride awesome, but it was. It had funny music (I think it played "It's a Small World" on a continuous loop for hours upon hours and it must have been terrible to work there, but as a kid it was fantastic!) and silly little cops beating up drunks. Oh, and dancing puppets. I have no idea why I loved this so much, but I did!

6. Wacky Shack: Before it was Hunt's Horrors (lame!), the Wacky Shack was an all-time all timer. The haunted house was scary - everything from the moving letters displaying the name of the ride, to the loud noises, to the scary monsters inside. This wasn't a ride I'd go on by myself - I needed to make sure my sister was seated next to me - but I enjoyed it every time I went on it. It's a classic.

5. Pirate Ship: The old walkthrough ride at the back of Hunts Pier had something for everyone. You got to walk through a moving barrel, you got to go over a drawbridge, there were talking parrots and you got to ring a bell! How cool is that, an actual bell. OK, it might not sound great, but it was. Plus, to get into the ride, you had to walk into a monster's mouth and to get out, you had to walk out of a skeleton's mouth. If that doesn't give you goose bumps, nothing will.

4: The Spider: I remember this called the Octopus, but I checked out a few old pictures of Hunt's Pier and it said the Spider, so I'll take the pics word for it. This was a ride where you spun around and went up and down. You didn't see much, but it was a thrill ride that was very fun. Also, if there was a nice guy running the ride and if you asked nicely, he'd usually spin you. I hated when you'd get a guy who'd say "it spins itself." That guy was lazy and I'm glad I don't have to worry about him anymore. JERK!

3: The Flyer: The old wooden roller coaster at the front of the pier was spectacular. I remember how scared I'd get when I walked up and gave the guy my tickets. It wasn't an exceptionally scary ride from most people, but I remember how brave I thought I was when I'd go on. The other thing I remember about this ride is that the best seat was in the back. Most people waited for the front, but take it from an expert, you wanted to be in the last cart.

2: The Golden Nugget: Some called it the Mine Ride, this was such a fun ride. It was part haunted house, part roller coaster. OK, so it wasn't a great roller coaster, but how many coasters do you go on where bats fly towards you? Didn't think so. Even when I was walking south to north on the boardwalk (usually home from pro wrestling at Convention Hall), you could watch the ride from blocks away and get excited. This was also my dad's favorite ride, so it's probably why I hold it so dear to my heart. I still think I'd get a little scared if I saw the word's "Bottomless shaft!"

1: Jungle Land: I was crushed when they took this ride away from me. I loved Clarence the cross-eyed snake, I loved the hippos, I loved the monkeys of Monkey Island (is that a proper name of their island?), the elephant who would squirt water at you, the uncharted cave, the hippo who got too close to the boat, the guy who wrestled the alligator, the witchdoctor and I still feel bad for the poor school teacher and missionary who were up to their necks in hot boiling water. If you've never been on jungle land, it was a boat ride through a "jungle" and it had everything you'd see in a jungle. OK, maybe not, the only jungle I've ever been at was the one in jungle land, so it's how I picture a jungle. I suppose all jungles have a log flume next to them, right? Anyway, this was my favorite ride of all time and I can't see another ride surpassing this ever. Hey Morey's Pier, any chance you'd bring this back?

Joe Mason can be reached at jmason@phillyBurbs.com

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